Marais des Cygnes National Wildlife Refuge COMPREHENSIVE CONSERVATION PLAN March 1998 Prepared by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Flint Hills NWR PO Box 128 Hartford, KS 66854 Marais des Cvanes National Wildlife Refuge COMPREHENS1\71: CONSERVATION PLAN APPROVAL U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, REGION 6 SUBMITTED BY: erreGamble YRefuge Manager CONCUR: :2-.20-92 Date Associate Manager, Kansas/Nebraska ~hWebster Geographic Assistant Regional Director Colorado/Kansas/Nebraska/Utah -I- Wilbur LaCid Programmatic Assistant Regional Director Refuges and Wildlife APPROVE: RalP ~genweck 1 Date Regional Director, Re~ion 6 Table of Contents INTRODUCTIONLBACKGRQUND Purpose and Need for a Plan ..................................................... I National Wildlife Refuge System Mission .......................................... 2 National Wildlife Refuge System Policies .......................................... 2 Key Mandates ................................................................ 3 Guiding Principles ............................................................. 5 Refuge Establishment and History ................................................. 6 Planning Issues and Opportunities ................................................. 7 RESOURCE/REFUGE DESCRIPTION Geographic Ecosystem Setting .................................................. 10 Location .................................................................... 10 Climate ..................................................................... 10 Minerals .................................................................... II Soils ....................................................................... 13 Water Resources ............................................................. 13 Water Rights ................................................................ 14 Refuge Habitats .............................................................. 15 Wildlife .................................................................... 21 Threatened and Endangered Species .............................................. 22 Public Uses .................................................................. 26 Administrative Resources ...................................................... 26 Cultural Resources ............................................................ 27 Recreational Uses . .......................................................... , .29 REFUGE GOALS, OBJECTIYES, AND STRATEGIES Refuge Vision ............................................................... 30 Goals, Objectives, and Strategies ................................................. 30 Landscape Goal .............................................................. 30 Recreation Goal .............................................................. 34 Environmental Opportunities and Interpretation Goal ................................. 35 PLAN IMPLEMENTATION Projects, Funding, and Personnel Requirements ..................................... 38 Step-Down Management Plans .................................................. 39 Wilderness Review ........................................................... 40 Monitoring and Evaluation ..................................................... 41 i PREPARERS ............................................................. 43 APPENDIXES Appendix A Bird Species Listing for Marais des Cygnes NWR Area ................... 44 Appendix B Vertebrates ofLinn County, Kansas (Kansas Natural Heritage Inventory) ..... 56 Appendix C Kansas Department ofWildlife and Parks Threatened and Endangered Species KnO"WI1 or Likely to Occur in Linn County, Kansas .... , .... ,', ...... 63 Appendix D Executive Order 12996 ............................................. 66 Appendix E References ...................................................... 69 MAPS Map 1. Vicinity Map ........................................................... 9 Map 2. Ecosystems Map. .. 12 Map 3. Habitats Map .......................................................... 19 Map 4. Ownership Map ....................................................... 20 FIGURE Figure 1. Habitat Types ........................................................ 18 11 INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND The u.s. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal agency responsible for conserving, protecting, and enhancing fish and wildlife and their habitats. The Service manages a diverse network of more than 500 National Wildlife Refuges. a system which encompasses more than 92 million acres of public land and water. National Wildlife Refuges are established for specific purposes and provide habitats for more than 5,000 species of birds, mannuals, fish, and insects. The Marais des Cygnes National Wildlife Refuge (9,300 acres) is one of the newest refuges in the system. It was established to protect bottomland hardwood habitats along the Marais des Cygnes River in Linn County, Kansas. Purpose and Need for a Plan All units of the National Wildlife Refuge System are required to have and implement a Comprehensive Conservation Plan. A CCP describes how the purposes for which a refuge was established are to be pursued over a 10-15 year period. The plan sets goals and objectives which are based on refuge purposes, other Federal laws, National Wildlife Refuge System goals, and Fish and Wildlife Service policies. Management activities are then selected based on their efficacy in accomplishing refuge objectives. The plan is comprehensive in the sense that it addresses all activities that occur on the refuge. However, management activities or strategies are stated broadly in the CCP. Detailed step-down plans and budgets are then prepared describing how a management strategy such as prescribed burning or grazing is to be applied. These plans are adjusted frequently (usnally armua1ly) based on monitoring results, available funds. staff, and current Service policy. The effects of management actions are documented to provide information to future managers and managers of other refuges. This plan describes how the refuge landscape will look when the goals and objectives are accomplished. It also addresses five ofthe eight issues (see page 7) raised during the refuge acquisition process: - the reduction of a bottomland hardwood habitat, - the need to maintain habitat for state and federally-listed threatened and endangered species, - the enhancement of habitat for migratory bird species. - the continuance of biodiversity in a regionally unique ecosystem, and - the restoration of natural flooding characteristics in a portion of the river's floodplain. In 1992, the Service assessed four alternatives in an Environmental Assessment for the management ofthe Refuge. This plan is the implementation of the "Direct Management Alternative." Since that alternative was found not to have any significant environmental impacts. no further environmental analysis is being undertaken through this planning process. In addition, all the management techniques presented in this plan have been determined to be "categorically March 1998 I excluded" from NEPA documentation because they are not major F edera! actions and they have no significant impacts on the human envirorunent, individually or cumulatively. The EA was developed with input from a number of sources. Scoping meetings and contacts occurred with residents and landowners of Linn COWlty, the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, other agencies ofthe State afKansas, conservation organizations such as The Nature Conservancy, and the cities of Pleasanton, La Cygne, and Mound City. A variety ofFederal, State, and local entities were also contacted. Input on the Refuge acquisition proposal was solicited through personal contacts, phone interviews, correspondence, notices in the media, and public meetings. Notification ofthe Service proposal was provided to the public in the form of a regional news release and direct contacts. The Service provided a briefing to the Linn County Commissioners in mid-October 1991. A preliminary meeting was held on November 18, 1991 , in the Pleasanton High School designed specifically to address any concerns oflandowners within the project boundary. Approximately 35 landowners attended that meeting. Only one landowner within the project was unable to attend. Following release ofthe draft EA, a public meeting was held on November 19, 1991 , at the Pleasanton High School. Notification ofthe project and sufficient copies of the EA were provided to the Office of the Governor, State of Kansas for review and response in compliance with E. O. 12372 - Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs. A draft of this comprehensive plan was made available to the public for review and comment. As part ofthis review, an open house was held in Pleasanton, Kansas on April 29, 1997. It was attended by approximately 40 people. Most ofthe comments received at the open house or by leller dealt with public use of the Refuge, especially public safety during the hunting seasons. There was also concern expressed dealing with wildlife habitat. National Wildlife Refuge System Mission The mission ofthe National Wildlife Refuge System is to administer a national network oflands and waters for the conservation, management, and where appropriate, restoration of the fish, wildlife, and plant resources and their habitats within the United States for the benefit of present and future generations of Americans. National Wildlife Refuge System Policies To manage each refuge to fulfill the mission of the System, as well as the specific purposes for which that refuge was established.